The universe could undergo a 'catastrophic change' that could alter absolutely everything, quantum machine shows
The groundbreaking simulation allowed scientists to better understand a phenomenon that could entirely change the structure of the universe –?and about which little is still known
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The universe could undergo a catastrophe that would change absolutely everything, scientists have shown using a quantum machine.
The groundbreaking simulation allowed scientists to better understand a phenomenon that could entirely change the structure of the universe –?and about which little is still known.
About 50 years ago, quantum physicists suggested that the universe could be trapped in a so-called false vacuum, where it appears stable but could be about to move into a true vacuum and be even more stable.
That could lead to a total change in the structure of the universe. But scientists know very little about it –?including whether it would happen, when, and how long it might take.
Now researchers have used a quantum machine to better understand that process of false vacuum decay. That process is linked to the very beginnings of the universe and so could shed light on both the beginning and end of the cosmos.
“We're talking about a process by which the universe would completely change its structure,” said Zlatko Papic, from the University of Leeds, the lead author on the new paper, in a statement.
“The fundamental constants could instantaneously change and the world as we know it would collapse like a house of cards. What we really need are controlled experiments to observe this process and determine its time scales.”
Scientists used a particular kind of quantum machine to simulate how bubbles behave in a false vacuum. The formation of those bubbles and the ways they then spread and interact could be the beginning of the process of false vacuum decay.
The researchers were able to configure the powerful quantum machine to represent the false vacuum. They could then control the system to move from a false to true vacuum, tracking the process it at a small and short scale so that they could better understand it at the scale of the universe.
“This phenomenon is comparable to a rollercoaster that has several valleys along its trajectory but only one ‘true’ lowest state, at ground level,” said Jean-Yves Desaules, a co-author on the paper.
“If that is indeed the case, quantum mechanics would allow the Universe to eventually tunnel to the lowest energy state or the ‘true’ vacuum and that process would result in a cataclysmic global event.”
A paper describing the work, ‘Stirring the false vacuum via interacting quantized bubbles on a 5564-qubit quantum annealer’, is published in Nature Physics today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments